IB English College-Level Words to Know

Canyon High School, Mr. Heck, 2024-2025

Ambivalent

Having mixed feelings or contradictory ideas about something or someone.

Cogent

Convincing or compelling, usually in argumentation or persuasion.

Efficacious

Effective in producing a desired or intended result; successful.

Esoteric

Intended for or likely to be understood by only a small number of people with a specialized knowledge or interest.

Exacerbate

To make a problem, bad situation, or negative feeling worse.

Facetious

Treating serious issues with deliberately inappropriate humor; flippant.

Gregarious

Fond of company; sociable.

Iconoclast

A person who attacks or criticizes cherished beliefs or institutions.

9. Idiosyncratic

Peculiar or individualistic; relating to a characteristic or habit peculiar to an individual.

10. Magnanimous

Very generous or forgiving, especially toward a rival or someone less powerful than oneself.

11. Myriad

A countless or extremely great number.

12. Nuance

A subtle difference in or shade of meaning, expression, or sound.

13. Ostracize

Exclude someone from a society or group.

14. Panacea

A solution or remedy for all difficulties or diseases.

15. Paradigm

A typical example or pattern of something; a model.

16. Paradoxical

Seemingly absurd or self-contradictory, yet often expressing a possible truth.

17. Pedantic

Overly concerned with minute details or formalisms, especially in teaching.

18. Pragmatic

Dealing with things sensibly and realistically in a way that is based on practical rather than theoretical considerations.

19. Prosaic

Lacking poetic beauty; commonplace; unromantic.

20. Quixotic

Exceedingly idealistic; unrealistic and impractical.

21. Salient

Most noticeable or important; prominent.

22. Sanguine

Optimistic or positive, especially in an apparently bad or difficult situation.

23. Serendipity

The occurrence of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.

24. Soporific

Tending to induce drowsiness or sleep.

25. Superfluous

Unnecessary, especially through being more than enough.

26. Taciturn

Reserved or uncommunicative in speech; saying little.

27. Ubiquitous

Present, appearing, or found everywhere.

28. Verbose

Using or expressed in more words than are needed.

29. Vicarious

Experienced in the imagination through the feelings or actions of another person.

30. Zealot

A person who is fanatical and uncompromising in pursuit of their religious, political, or other ideals.

31. Altruistic

Showing a selfless concern for the well-being of others; unselfish.

32. Anomaly

Something that deviates from what is standard, normal, or expected.

33. Convoluted

Extremely complex and difficult to follow.

34. Disparity

A great difference or inequality.

35. Equanimity

Mental calmness, composure, and evenness of temper, especially in a difficult situation.

36. Exonerate

Absolve someone from blame for a fault or wrongdoing, especially after due consideration of the case.

37. Indictment

A formal charge or accusation of a serious crime.

38. Mercurial

Subject to sudden or unpredictable changes of mood or mind.

39. Ostentatious

Characterized by vulgar or pretentious display; designed to impress or attract notice.

40. Pernicious

Having a harmful effect, especially in a gradual or subtle way.

41. Precarious

Not securely held or in position; dangerously likely to fall or collapse.

42. Prolific

Producing in large quantities or with great frequency.

43. Reticent

Not revealing one's thoughts or feelings readily.

44. Tenacious

Tending to keep a firm hold of something; clinging or adhering closely.

45. Veracity

Conformity to facts; accuracy; habitual truthfulness.

46. Visceral

Relating to deep inward feelings rather than to the intellect.

47. Malaise

A general feeling of discomfort, illness, or unease whose exact cause is difficult to identify.

48. Juxtaposition

The fact of two things being seen or placed close together with a contrasting effect.

49. Espouse

Adopt or support (a cause, belief, or way of life).

50. Disseminate

Spread or disperse widely.